Refrigerator-car construction



E. R. VIBERG. REFRIGERATOR CAR CONSTRUCTION. APPLICATION mu) M1514. 1921.

1,410,277, Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

UNETED STATES smear OFFICE. I;

ERNE$T R. VIBER-G, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

LMGJZW.

Application filed June 14, 1921.

T0 alt w 7mm it may con-com Be it known that 1, Banner R. Vienna, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Can ada, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator-Car Construction of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

This invention relates to improvements in refrigerator car construction and more par ticularly to the construction of brine tanks,

' and the object of the invention is to provide a car available for use as a refrigerator car and as a ventilated car without any adjustment or alteration when converting the car from one use to another.

In ordinary refrigerator car construction, ice bunkers or brine tanks extend up to the hatches and usually occupy the entire end surfaces, so that there is no air passage between the tops of the tanks and the roof. It is frequently necessary to operate refrigerator cars as ventilated cars, that is to say, cars through which a current of fresh air is constantly flowing. In order to do this, it has been customary to provide dampers in the upper part of the tanks or adjacent thereto, so that when these dampers and the icing hatches are open, air may flow through the car. It frequently occurs that the dampers are not open when they should be, either owing to neglect or to some other reason, so that the ventilating of the car cannot be effective. In the same way, dampers are frequently left open when they should be closed, with the result that ice may escape through them into the car or at least damp air escapes from the interior of the tanks into the car.

These disadvantages are overcome according to the present invention by the provision of a fixed slatted portion in the upper part of each brine tank, which will permit air to flow through the car when the hatches are open and which will prevent the escape of ice or damp air into the car when the hatches are closed.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention;--

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of a car through the icing hatch and illustrating the ventilating plate.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross section of a car showing an elevation of the ventilating plate.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1922.

Serial No. 477,457.

Referring more particularly to the draw lugs, 11 designates the walls and 12 the roof of a car, which are of usual construction, the roof being provided with a hatchway 13 and inner and outer hatch covers 14. and 15 respectively. The usual brine tanks are designated 16.

According to the present invention, the inner wall of each brine tank is provided at the top with one or more ventilators, designated as a whole by the numerall'i'. Each of these ventilators comprises a single plate 18 provided with a plurality of horizontal parallel cuts 19. The material of the plate below each cut is turned outwardly. as shown at 20, so as to provide a comparatlvely large opening, between each outturned plate edge and the normal or undisturbed plate edges above the openings. The outturned plate portions are inclined downwardly and toward the tank, as clearly shown in Figure 1, so thatthe openings 21 are virtually inclined passages leading downwardly into the tank or upwardly out of the tank. The portions 20 may, for convenience, be regarded as transverse slats or bars. In order to protect these slats or bars against distortion by ice thrown into the tank, a plurality of strong, vertically disposed bars 22 are provided inside the plate 18, traversing the openings 21 and the bars or slats 20. The plate 18, while shown as formed of a separate piece attached to the tank, may be the tank wall itself, that is to say, the bars 20 may be pressed from the tank wall. and not from a separate plate attached thereto. A splash plate of any suitable form may be disposed immediately below the ventilator 17, as indicated at 23.

The ventilator is a fixture and requires no manipulation whatever. The tank may be filled to the top with ice and salt or brine in the usual way. The bars 21 protect the ventilator slats from damage by the ice and, owing to the downward slope of the slats, any water deposited thereon from the melting ice will flow into the tank and not into the car. The splash plate 23 will prevent brine escaping through the ventilator when the car is in motion. Owing to the slope of the passages or openings 21 into the tank, cold damp air in the tank will not flow out through the ventilator, as this would necessitate an upward movement. When it is desired to operate the car as a ventilated car, all that is necessary is to partly open the hatches in the well known manner, indicated in broken lines, Figure 1, so that the hatch through the hatchway and into the upper part of the tank, from which it escapes into the car through the ventilator. It will he noted that the air flows downwardly and must then swirl around and flow upwardly when passing through the ventilator. This reversal of direction causes the greater part of the cinders and dust in the air to drop into the tank, so that they will not be car ried into the body of the car. The air ilo ws out through the ventilator and open hatch- Way at the opposite end of the car in the well known manner. It will be obvious from the foregoing description that, as the slats of the ventilator and the ventilator itself are fixed, no adjustment will be required when converting the car from another.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with an ice tank of a refrigerator car having an opening in the upper part thereof, communicating with the car, a plurality of inclined slats, on the out side of the tank traversing said opening and defining intervening passages leading downwardly into the tank, and vertically ar ranged protecting bars on'the inside of the tank traversing; said slats.

2. In combination with the structure recited in claim 1, a carrier for the slats and common fastening means securing the carrier and protecting bars to the tank;

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set In hand;

y ERNEST R. VIBERG.

one use to 

